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“And we know they are not going to come to the hospital to ask for a helpline card so there’s no point having a stack of them in the outpatient department.

“Our strategy was to put them wherever the farmers go - be it the vets, bank, butchers, post office or rugby clubs throughout Dolgellau, Porthmadog, Tywyn, Blaenau, Barmouth and Bala.

“We also have a network of PCSOs who take the cards out with them and North Wales Police’s rural crime team will send them out with every shot gun renewal or whenever they visit farms, which is fantastic.”

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Third generation farmer, Geraint Davies, who is county chair for the FUW in Meirionnydd, owns land on the Rhiwlas Estate and raises lamb and beef for home and export market.

The father-of-two said: “Farmers are under all kinds of pressures these days from the weather this winter - that places a massive stress level on farmers getting their animals fed - to agri-environment contracts where they’ve got to complete works by certain dates and have not been able to.

“When payments don’t come into the business on time, it adds to the financial pressure and farmers are getting more and more into a rut.

“We’re a proud bunch, we’re not happy to speak out about what’s bothering us but it’s a stressful industry that we’re in.”

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Mr Davies added: “This is our livelihood and we’ve seen a lot of changes, with more to come.

“The rules and regulations are going to change for us, we might even have more red tape if we want to be exporting our livestock to the continent Europe and so on.

“Tariffs on meat are leaving small margins in our profitability at the end of the day.

Geraint Davies, third generation hill farmer from Bala on his farm Fedwarian Uchaf just outside the town. Photograph by Ian Cooper (Image: North Wales Daily Post)

“My farm went from three full time employees to one full time person.

“It’s a lonely industry to be working in these days and so many people are in the same position, always chasing their tails to get jobs done.

“There’s hardly a day off, but when everything goes great, you wouldn’t choose anything else to do either.”

Mr Davies said the FUW has been proud to support the FCN by taking it on as one of their charities for the next two years.

“There are a few farmers who will talk, but a lot won’t say a word about what’s bothering them, it’s a shame really,” added the 34-year-old who is always keen to raise the profile of farming.

“The number of farmers taking their own lives is too high so it’s nice now that there’s a confidential helpline that’s different to the others out there.

Geraint Davies, third generation hill farmer from Bala on his farm Fedwarian Uchaf just outside the town. Photograph by Ian Cooper (Image: North Wales Daily Post)

“It’s really important that farmers can make contact with people who can point them in the right direction or just chat to them and understand.

“We need to invest in the farming community and take care of farmer’s mental health so that we can leave it in a better condition for the next generation coming through.”

Ms Thomas said so far, the initiative has been a great success with its aim to make health accessible, acceptable and appropriate to men in response to concerns raised about lack of support for the wellbeing of farmers in general.

Hospital staff even took part in a sponsored walk to get the FCN helpline cards printed in Welsh.

“In the outpatient department, we work very much as a team, we are the first community hospital to develop this initiative and recently won a national nursing award for our work to reduce inequalities in men’s health in rural communities.

“There are community hospitals throughout Wales, particularly in rural areas and they are well placed to provide such accessible and acceptable health education.

“We are working hard to improve the health of our own community but I know that this initiative could spread throughout Wales, through community hospitals, helping to support farmers in all rural areas.

“We feel strongly that by raising awareness of the help that is available to farmers who are stressed or in distress for whatever reason we can make a real difference.”

FARMING FACTS

Every year, around 4,500 farming families across England and Wales are affected by bovine TB

Approximately one farmer a week in the UK dies by suicide

25% of farming families in the UK live below the poverty line

Around 6,000 people a year benefit from the support of the Farming Community Network, which has 400 volunteers organised into country groups throughout England and Wales

Around 2/3 FCN cases are financial issues.

Every year, FCN takes on 1,000 new cases through its helpline and third party referrals.

FCN provides a confidential helpline from 7am until 11pm every day of the year - 03000 111 999.